New Beer Sunday (Week 800)

Local premier shop has Central Waters after all. I tried the Call Me Old Fashioned instead of the porter...this was ok, but probably should have gotten the porter. I found the FW Old Manhattan a better take on this beer variant.

 

Second to last new beer of this NBS!



Pipeworks' Water Balloon Toss Champs is an IPA with tangerine added, clocking in at 7% ABV.

This pours like actual juice. I've had some juicy-looking beers before but this just totally falls out of the can like tangerine juice. It's almost comically saturated and orange with a moderate head that retains decently, leaving behind some spotty lacing.

The nose is incredibly dank; surprisingly so, considering I really expected it to be a lot more citrusy. Of course that element is there, though I assume they threw a ton of hops in here to balance the tangerine presence. This is insane smelling; I get guava, tangerine (duh), apricot/peach/nectarine, white grape, and bitter orange. A lot going on, and quite green/grassy as well. Excellent first impression... this is very dense.

My first sips are tart and punishingly-bitter with a huge tangerine and grapefruit presence really pushing the envelope of what an IPA can be before it becomes a straight-up fruit beer. It's like, nearly sour as well. Tons of fresh tangerine and grapefruit in the mid-palate, with some intense hop-burn in the finish but it surprisingly doesn't inhibit the drinkability of this beer. Jesus, guys. This is very, very close to being over-the-top. It's not as plush or fluffy as they claim it to be (I actually think this would benefit from a touch of lactose, which is not typically something I say about beers like this), but it's got a good feel anyway. Carbonation is kept pretty strictly in the realm of being a moderating influence instead of driving the flavors. This doesn't really need help pushing what it has going on... it's intense and very dedicated to the citrus aspect. I recommend this if you want a super-citrusy, bright, and flavorful IPA. Good summer drinking for sure!

One more coming before I retire for the night, and I have absolutely no idea how it's gonna be. I just know I paid a pretty penny for it, but I've never heard of the brewery before and found it on a shelf of aging beers at a Kappy's in Fitchburg, MA. Hooray for random weird finds? Maybe?

 

Good evening NBS friends. Week 800...quite a milestone. This is by far my favorite thread and while I have not been participating much lately I read the entire thread every week.

The missus just had big time shoulder surgery, so it has not been a fun week. I would havr been very happy to see more weeks of low humidity and cool nights...

This week's victim.is a mystery beer. I think it is abut six years old, and it came from Trillium shortly after the Canton. MA brewery opened up. All it says is,Trillium Farmhouse Ale and it doesn't come up in the BA database. I think it was from early on in the "flavor of the week" days at Trillium... I guess we call this a Belgian saison. It is 6.4% ABV.



Nice looking pour for an ancient ale...clear and golden with a more than ample cushiony head that lasts for quite some time. Eventually falls to a ring and raft situation but clings tenaciously to the glass.

Quite decent on the nose. The immediate impression was typical Belgian yeast treatment with bright fruit notes specifically white grape. There is a strong yeast component that is like a raw proofing dough. Spicy and peppery, pretty nice aroma overall, certainly nothing objectionable.

The taste is clean, which is maybe a little unusual. It is bright, very lightly spiced with a bit of peppery flavor. It is yeasty and bready, a little herbal grassiness, and there is a grape and apple fruitiness. It's pleasant.

The feel...amply carbonated for the style, but the feel overall is creamy and I'd say a bit north if medium bodied, but very, very. Typical for the style? Who's to say...the style is so broad and all-encompassing how can I say it isn't residing in the saison universe? I will sat it is reasonably in thr neighborhood.

Overall, I like it well enough, it certainly isn't fresh but it isn't tasting overly aged to me. No idea what it tasted like new, but at least it is open now and meeting it's fate. Not in the database, and I don't think I should add it. If I could score it, right around the 4.0 mark is where this would land.

 

Thank you all for dealing with my incessant postings! What the hell is this!? Baere Brewing Co.'s Reciprocity, bottled on 7/18/2016, making this very close to four years old! I won't take credit for aging it, as I found it on the shelves of Kappy's in Fitchburg, MA, which I discovered existed while returning from dropping my previously-mentioned cat off at the barn he now lives at. I got a few more beers there yesterday (including a fresh can of Boss Tweed that I already enjoyed), but this is the most unusual. I've never heard of this brewery, but I quickly noticed that it was bottled at freaking 10.3% and is a rye-focused, mixed culture, oak-aged sour beer. Didn't have a price on it, but I believe it was close to $15-17 or so based on how everything rang up. I didn't really question it, though; great, weird beer should have no price tag. Also this isn't even on BA. The hell?... let's get into it!



Pours a medium amber color with a modest head that dissipates down to about a quarter-finger of bone-white foam after 5-10 minutes in my glass. It was quite effervescent upon the initial pour, but it somewhat calmed down after a bit of time. The body is hazy and kinda unremarkable. No floaties or anything, in order words.

Nose is strikingly sour and vinous with a huge tropical fruit current running through it, but there's also a damp and dank spicy rye character that definitely jumps out at me as well. Moderate orchard fruit, some mango and guava, oaky tannins, white wine-like elements, and some peppery spice. Very reminiscent of some Jolly Pumpkin beers, perhaps like a mustier version of, like, Oro de Calabaza, for instance?

Sharp acidity on the tongue with a cutting ethanol-driven spice that definitely speaks to an inclusion of rye. Almost has a rye whiskey touch to it in terms of the earthiness, but it's not as savory or spicy. More fruity and wine-like, as noted from the nose. Super tart with shocking, candy-like, malic-laden acidity. Fun grapefruit and tangerine notes melding with some more complex papaya, passion fruit, and ripe mango notes. The barrel presents as a moderating presence here, lending a stiff dryness to the finish, but otherwise it doesn't really come across. A lot of beers like this have, for example, a very vanilla-like or tannic note from the barrel. Nope, not much of that here. It's just super sour and puckering, but fucking 10.3%. I'm scared of this beer, because it's so easy to drink and barely feels like an alcoholic beverage.

What an odd drink. I'm kinda not sure what to think here. It's a strong rye-based barrel-aged sour beer. Is it successful at that? I would have preferred it to be a little more rye-forward, with some more spice and less tropical fruity oddness going on, but it's also almost four years old so who knows what it was like fresh? Interesting experience. I am enjoying sipping it, but it's definitely functioning more as an endpoint for the night than as a "great beer," as it's making me think about what makes beer good in the first place. Maybe I'll dream of the perfect barrel-aged sour beer... yes, that would be a satisfactory end to my NBS. Cheers all!

 

It does see a lot of action, that snifter. It's my only one that holds more than 12oz of beer!

 

It wasn't heavily in my rotation, but worked as a beach or softball beer

 

Not sure what I'm drinking right now. Had someone else pour. Here's the lineup.




The beer:
Pours a fully hazy deep apricot golden colour with only about a finger of head that quickly recedes to nothing, looking like juice in the glass. No visible effervescence. 4.0

Nose: Deep, saturated notes of tropical and stone fruits, with a sweet, almost honeyed malt backbone, maybe with a hint of oat too. Notes of apricot, nectarine, papaya, melon, white grape, guava, passionfruit, and some sweaty, overripe dankness. There's a bit of herbaceous grassiness in the background, and perhaps a bit of musty Simcoe too. 4.25

Palate: The beer greets the palate with a big malty sweetness with lots of honey-like flavours. Huge stone fruit notes of papaya, apricot, nectarine, and melon. Beneath that, some gooseberry, kiwi, mango, guava, and white grape emerges. There is definitely a big, dank, sweaty overripe fruit character that leads me to believe there's a healthy dose of Simcoe. A musty note and some grassiness comes forth, and begins to dry the beer out, lending a bit of grassy bitterness, with a chalky dryness. Maybe even a hint of Galaxy. The beer finishes bitter, grassy, earthy, with a persimmon flesh bite. 4.0

Mouthfeel/Body: The beer is very much full-bodied. It had a big New England softness, and a slick, smooth texture. Effervescence is definitely on the lower side, but there's enough to make it work. A real tight, chalky, tannic drying sensation closes the beer. A touch of stickiness coats the lips. 4.0

Verdict: There's definitely some alcohol in this beer. I can feel it. Definitely at least 8.5%. I was thinking it's either Kane Open Water, Equilibrium Juice^2, Green Iguana, or Double Broken Heels, but upon learning the ABV of Green Iguana (7.7%), and that Broken Heels has Nelson, I'm going with Open Water or Juice^2 - both 10% ABV. In my experience, Kane tends to have a more grain-forward malt base, and more boil-hopped bitterness, so I'm going to guess that this is Equilibrium Juice^2. Stay tuned.

Cheers!

 

I agree it is good for what it is. Definitely my first choice if I'm somewhere with nothing fancier available. It's the oldest independent brewery in Canada too. Still owned by the same family that founded it.

 

Reveal -

Equilibrium - Juice^2

Nailed it!

I'm saying saying I'm the man, or anything... But come on... That was good... Pat myself on the back for that one. Hell yeah!

Cheers all!